Selene curiously entered into the coffee shop, her breath staggered by the agenda racing through her overfilled mind. Sometimes she felt like it was more of a filing cabinet stuck in her head than a squishy pink organ. The only thing that usually set her at ease was the sweet aroma of a skinny vanilla latte.

"Good afternoon, Miss Selene!" A scruffy haired brunette nodded his head as a greeting, already grabbing for a cup. Seeing as Selene visited the Grove daily, she already knew all of the workers and they all knew her and her order. "Skinny vanilla, what size?"

"Hi, Daniel." The creases on her forehead seemed to meet the corners of her lips as her pale salmon lips drew a grin at the sight of him. Selene touched her wallet to the countertop, and she began to withdraw her credit card. "I'll take a large today."

His eyebrows shot up, knowing that she usually ordered a small, unless things were extremely stressful. "Wow, rough day?"

"It is not even ten o'clock yet, and my list has already doubled in size as to what I have to do today. Plus, Alaine got fired about a half hour ago. Well, I guess it was more like she quit because my boss is an absolute a-hole." Selene's fingers graced her already brewing headache, their cool touch trying to ease the pain.

"I appreciate how you always try to keep the conversation clean in our family friendly facility," Daniel added with a smile, in an attempt to pick her up. He began to brew the coffee, talking to her all the while. "Look, Selene, things get tough and that is just life. I also know that you enjoy a challenging challenge, but do you ever think that maybe you take on too much work?"

"What do you mean?" Selene snapped, becoming protective over her work ethic.

"I'm just saying that from what you've told me in the past and what happened with Alaine, your boss sounds like a major, uh, a-hole, as you say. Like you said, it is not even ten and you are already freaking out, which is far from okay. I would never advise you to quit, but I would encourage you to stand up for yourself and tell him when it becomes too much." Daniel shrugged his shoulders and swiped her card as the coffee began to blend into the cup.

Some of her dark brown strands fell in front of her face, trying to hide some of her pain. "I'll be fine, I like work and staying busy."

"I just don't want to see anything happen to you," Daniel said quietly, his back turned to her as he added the whipped cream. He turned back around and placed the cup in front of her with a sleeve to protect her hand from the heat. "My mom was admitted into a hospital due to stress and it almost killed her. Just look out for yourself, alright?"

"I will," she nodded, still precariously going through her mental to-do list. "In fact, I don't start until eleven, so I might just sit here and work on some things before I head over to my office."

"Or you could read a magazine or something, and worry about work once you actually get to work?"

Selene let out a shrill of laughter. "No, this work is personal. Just for me."

"Wow, Miss Selene knows how to have fun?" Daniel asked with an overly exasperated facial expression. He continued with his dramatics by clapping his hands, crying like a proud mama at a piano recital.

"Oh, Daniel," she said with a slow sigh. Selene headed over to one of the tables with two chairs, put her briefcase on one chair and sat in the opposing one. She pulled out her laptop and logged on with the word document she was working on last night beginning to visualize in front of her. She read through the last few paragraphs as a refresher, then beginning to type away.

As envisioned from before, the governor broke the chain of life and let the thousands of spirits roam the palace. If anything were to happen, it would take place tonight. Indeed, later everything would have officially changed in Egypt for the better.

And would be all thanks to him.

The voodoo, the spells, the unflattering light that shaded the mummies. None of it would mean anything anymore because he would hold onto the power all himself. The secrets of Egypt and the ruins of the world's fate would all rest in his hands. All he needed to do was make one decision and let whatever happen after that happen.

"Ah, Ancient Egypt, I take it? Definitely not any sort of work, congratulations." Daniel's voice startled Selene and she quickly shut her laptop out of pure embarrassment. Of course, the dream was for her to become an author, but even so, she still had a relinquished vendetta of sharing her work with others.

"Ah, so what, are you head of the writing espionage, or...?" Selene blushed, nervously grabbing for her coffee.

"Not exactly," he said slowly, as if taking extra care in choosing his words around a soon-to-be esteemed writer. "Whenever you come into here and sit down with your laptop, I always thought you were doing work."

"Well, surprise!" she shouted with false enthusiasm. "I'm a writer."

"I see! So, have you published anything?" Danny inquired, his curiosity peaking.

"Nope," she responded with a long pop on the 'p'.

"Will you?" he asked again, his voice sounding more concerned at this point.

Selene shrugged her shoulders, not knowing the answer herself. After all, she had an established – and stressful – job as a magazine editor, so why try to pursue something else? "It's a dream that probably won't come true."

"Why not? From what I've read, you're phenomenal!"

"My job as editor takes up my life, and it pays well," she responded, simply.

"But if creative writing is what makes you happy...?"

"Danny, shouldn't you be working?" Selene put her cup on the table out of frustration. If there was one thing that she hated, it was confrontations.

He looked around the store with false intentions of moving. "No one is there, I'm good. Now, why won't you chase your dreams?"

"Because they are not worth chasing when life is already good to me."

"But Selene, you have to believe in yourself!" Daniel began walking to the other side of her, bumping her coffee as he did so. The cup fell onto the ground with the lid tumbling off. However, the coffee remained intact on the inside.

"I am so sorry!" he scrambled to grab some napkins.

"No, no, Danny look! That's so strange, isn't it? Absolutely no mess," Selene examined the scene, scrutinizing every detail.

"I call it a miracle," he said, exhaling in relief.

Selene shook her head, still confused on the whole scene. "But judging by where the cup was on the table, the height of the fall, and the fact that the lid popped off," she began analyzing the scene, "it just doesn't make any sense. It didn't even move a smidge."

"Well, that's some crazy witchcraft, huh?" Daniel joked, picking the cup off the ground, while tossing the lid. He ran to get her a fresh one, so that she wouldn't risk drinking any infected coffee.

He handed her the lid with a very serious look. "Do you believe in witchcraft?"

Selene grabbed the lid with an amused grin spreading across her face. "No, but I have always found the subject of voodoo to be highly entertaining. That's all it is, though."

He raised his eyebrows, seemingly amused by her response, to which she snapped, "Don't tell me you do?" She watched him shrug his shoulders carefully, before walking back over to the counter.

"Let's just say that I'm biased."

"Biased, how?"

"I grew up learning witchcraft and Wiccan ways. It's crazy, but my mother used to think she was a witch. She used to tell me the strangest stories to try to get me to behave," he said, laughing at the memories.

"Did they work?"

"Absolutely! I was terrified out of my wits. Unfortunately, she passed away a few years ago, but I still have all of her old things in my attic, including this leather bound book. It has all these weird spells and things in it."

"Do you ever read through it?" Selene asked, her interest brewing with his every word. She picked up her coffee and took another sip, waiting for him to continue.

"I skim from time to time, but I just don't have enough time to really look through it," he admitted, watching the door open and customers coming in. As they scanned the menu, he let out a tiny chuckle. "Maybe I'll see if there's a spell to get you the job you want."

Selene rolled her eyes. "Good luck with that! Speaking of which, I need to get going. I'll probably see you later, judging my agenda."

"Good luck, Selene!" he called after her as she dashed out the door, her dark locks running behind her.

She signaled for a taxi and climbed into it, giving the guy the address. Out the window, she saw the skyscrapers rush past her, giving her a blur of imagination. What if witchcraft really is real?

**************************************

Author's Note (A/N);

Hi friends,

I hope that you enjoyed the first half of the first chapter.  I'll have the second half up later today!

I would love any feedback that you have on Selene, her character, Daniel, etc. so far.

By the way, do any of you believe in witchcraft?

I definitely do — my Hogwarts letter probably just got lost in the mail, though xD

If you liked this part, make sure to add the story to your library, so that you always know when it's updated!

Lots of love,

Ali xoxo